My guitar collection - G&L
The years 2004-2005 saw the production of a limited number of all mahogany guitars, among them this Legacy HB Mahogany with less than 35 built. As expected for this model, the Caramel finished mahogany body has the Dual-Fulcrum Vibrato (DFV) and CLF-100 Alnico Vintage single-coil pickups in the middle and neck,, but a G&L AW4370B bridge humbucker. This still gives it a similar HSS pickup configuration as the Invader with the presence of the PTB circuit, augmented with a humbucker/single-coil mini-toggle switch, on the Legacy HB being the big difference. The mahogany neck has a 12” East Indian rosewood fingerboard, 1⅝” wide Graph-Tech nut, and Schaller Locking tuning machines. Like the ASAT HB from the same series, it arrived in a brown tolex case with yellow plush lining. The standard production Legacy HB was discontinued at the end of 2017, but information on its generic specs can still be found on this archived page (snapshot from 2016).
Legacy HB Mahogany
The story behind this guitar
Year:
Serial number:
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Body date:
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No, it is not a pre-1997, let alone pre-BBE, instrument. Nor is it an ASAT. Still this guitar was added for several reasons. It is rare, hopefully sheds some more light on the whole all mahogany guitar enigma, and it provides a nice segue from the Legacy-like models back into the ASAT, in particular the ASAT HB. This instrument was previously owned by Paul Fry, who bought it in 2006 at Wild West Guitar in Riverside, CA, and played in a band with friends doing the SoCal bar circuit. After it had been stored in a closet for a decade, it was sold by his daughter Lauren in 2019. As expected, some lessons were learned after it arrived. The whole deal came with a bunch of extras including the original sales receipts and all other original paperwork. The guitar also already had black Schaller strap lock buttons installed with the originals still in the case. The neck is thick and chunky, much like the 1958-1959 Les Paul, and feels great. Ordinarily the Legacy HB has a Seymour Duncan JB (TB-4) bridge Trembucker but, like its ASAT HB brethren, it clearly has a G&L humbucker developed under the auspices of Paul Gagon during that period. The splitter switch on the bucker is very useful and sonically matches well with the single-coils in the other positions. And when switching to humbucker mode warmth and oomph are added to the sound as expected. What is the effect of the mahogany body? Not always easy to assess without an analyzer. More sustain? Maybe. A little more roundness to the tone? I dare to claim so. In all, a fabulous guitar.
The story behind this guitar
2005
CLF10402
none, marked ‘Legacy HB’, ‘LT’, ‘Caramel’
JAN 26 2005
